Toilet ventilator



Aug. 19, W. L. SHAY TOILET VENTILATOR Filed April 18, 1955 IIIIIII IWILL MM L. .S'HAK INVENTOR.

SELLERS 6 1.147774, By ATTORNEYS OP WOHa-O.

United States Patent TOILET VENTILATOR William L. Shay, Reseda, Calif.Application April 18, 1955, Serial No. 501,904 2 Claims. (Cl. 4-213)-This invention relates to apparatus for ventilating a toilet to removenoxious odors. Its primary object is to provide attachment apparatuswhich can be readily incorporated in the conventional toilet apparatus(of the current type wherein the flush tank is mounted upon the rear endof the toilet bowl) without the necessity for altering the structure ofeither the bowl or the flush tank. More specifically, the inventioncontemplates a ventilating attachment which may be installed simply bydetaching the Hush tank, elevating it a short distance, inserting theventilating apparatus between the bowl and the tank, and reattaching thetank in its elevated position.

A further object is to provide such a ventilating attachment which issecurely attached to the existing toilet apparatus by being sandwichedbetween the flush tank and the rear end of the toilet bowl.

A still further object is to provide such a ventilating attachmentwhich, when installed, is largely concealed at the back end of thetoilet bowl and beneath the fiush tank, so as to blend harmoniously withthe existing toilet installation.

The invention further contemplates a ventilating attachment which isadapted to be connected to a vent which can be made in the floor of abathroom immediately behind the toilet bowl and extended down throughthe floor to connect to an existing venting stack.

Other objects will become apparent in the ensuing specifications andappended drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a toilet installation with my improvedventilating attachment embodied therein, a portion of the attachmentbeing broken away and shown in section to more clearly illustrate thesame;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the toilet construction with exposed portionsof the ventilating attachment shown.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the toilet bowl and ventilating attachment withthe flush tank removed, viewed in the plane indicated by the line 33 ofFig. 1, with the interconnecting parts shown in section and other partsbroken away;

Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 4-4of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, my improved ventilatingattachment is particularly adapted for association with a toiletinstallation including a bowl 6 having a rim 7 and having at its rear abracket portion 8 in which is embodied a duct 9 (Fig. 4) for conveying aflushing stream into the bowl from a flush tank 10 which is supportedupon the normally attached with its bottom directly mounted upon theupper end of the rear bowl portion 8. The valve opening in the bottom oftank 10 normally is connected to the upper end of duct 9 by a nipplefitting which, in the use of the present invention is replaced by anipple fitting 11 of greater length than the conventional fitting, inorder to accommodate ele vation of the tank 10 as hereinafter specified.

My invention provides attachment apparatus which, in addition to theextension nipple 11,. includes, in general, the following units: a pairof crescent shaped gaskets 12 which are interposed between the bowl 6and the toilet seat 13; a withdrawal duct 14 extending from the rearextremity of the bowl mouth and beneath the flush tank 10; and ascavenging duct and blower unit 15 which extends downwardly, behind bowl6, from the rear end of withdrawal duct 14 to a vent 16 in the bathroomfloor 17.

In detail, the above units are as follows: the gaskets 12 are curvedlongitudinally to conform to the contours of the respective sides ofbowl rim 7, and they are terminated short of the forward end of thebowl, to define an inlet 18 between the laterally spaced forward ends ofthe respective gaskets, and beneath the projecting forward end portionof the toilet seat 13. The rear ends 19 of gaskets 12 are likewiselaterally spaced, with a spacing such that the forward end portion 20 ofwithdrawal duct 14 is snugly fitted between said rear ends 19. Thus theforward end of duct 14, which is open, is in fluid transfercommunication with a fiat shallow outlet 21, defined between the upperface of bowl rim 7 and the lower face of rear central portion of toiletseat 13 and extending from side to side between the rear ends 19 ofgaskets 12.

Gaskets 12 are preferably secured to the lower faces of seat 13 by asuitable cement, and their lower faces are positioned to be engaged,with fluid sealing contact, against the upper face of bowl rim 7.Gaskets 12 are preferably of a resilient compressible material such as asoft rubber or synthetic rubber or equivalent plastic material, with athickness slightly greater than the normal spacing between toilet seat13 and the upper face of rim 7. Thus the seat, conventionally hinged tothe bowl 6 by hinge mechanism 22, when lowered, will place the gasketsin contact with bowl rim 7 under compression to establish a good fluidseal between the seat 13 and bowl rim 7 along the respective sidesthereof, so that a passage for the flow of ventilating air into the bowl6 through the forward inlet 18 and thence out of the rear end of thebowl through the outlet 21 and into the withdrawal duct 14, isestablished.

Duct 14 has a rear portion 23 which is rectangular as disclosed in Fig.3, is substantially wider than the forward end portion 20 and is offsetupwardly from the latter at 24. The offset 24 accommodates an upwardlyprojecting ridge 25 on bracket portion 8 of the toilet bowl 6, againstwhich the forward corner of flush tank 10 is normally mounted.

Withdrawal duct 14 may be fabricated from sheet material, preferablysheet metal, and includes an upper wall portion 26, a lower wall portion27, a marginal wall portion 28 which extends around the rear, and alongboth sides of the duct, being offset inwardly at 29 where the wider rearportion 23 thereof, merges with the narrower forward portion 20 thereof.The bottom wall portion 27 rests upon the upper face of the toilet bowl6, and the upper wall portion 26 is fitted to the bottom of flush tank10.

In the forward area of the widened rear portion 23 of aea'zeea 3. duct14 is a collar 30, joined at its upper and lower ends to the upper andlower wall members 26 and'27 respectively, at the margins of registeringopenings therein, whereby there is provided a passage extendingdownwardly through the duct 14, to accommodate the extension nipple 11which passes downwardly through the duct from the bottom of flush tank10 to connect with the upper end of flushing duct 9 in bowl 6, and issealed thereto in the same manner as the conventional connector nipplewhichiitm'eplaces, The-upper end of nipple '11isfpro*- vided with avalve seat, corresponding to the valve seat of the conventional nipple,for coaction with the flush tank valve 31.

Rearwandly of collar 39, in the lower wall 27 of duct 14, is a roughlysemi-circular shaped outlet port 32 which communicatesw-ith acorrespondingly shaped inlet 33 in the upperend portionfid-v ofscavenging duct 15. Upper endportion-34 is suitably shaped to correspondgenerally to the semi-circular shape of aperture 32 and, in its lowerportion the'duct 15' may merge into a more or less cylindrical-bodyportion'3'5. At its lower end, duct 15 again enlarges-in diameter toprovide a blower housing 36. A blower 37, driven by an electric motor 39suitably mounted inthe housing 36, as by means of brackets 38,circulates air downwardly in duct 15 when operated.

The. upper-end portion 34 of the discharge duct has its inlet 33 sealedto outlet32 of withdrawal duct 14 by a suitable gasket 40 interposedbetween the coupled ends of the two ducts. The weight of the flush tank10, press ing downwardly upon the rear portion 23 of the withdrawalduct, may be depended upon to maintain the sealing connection betweenthe ducts 14 and 15, the lower end of duct 15 'resting directly againstthe floor 17 so that the duct is interposed under compression betweenthe floor and the gasket 40'. Thus the duct 15 functions as a supportingcolumn. At its lower end, duct 15 has an outlet 41 which communicateswith vent 16 which is fashioned in the floor 17, and is preferablysealed thereto by a gasket 43. The vent 16 may simply discharge .beneaththe building or may be connected by suitable plumbing to an existingvent stack, in a manner which will be readily apparent to a plumber.

Normally, the flush: tank is connected to the bowl ,6 by a pair oflaterally spaced bolts, one on either side of the tank discharge nipple.In assembling the present invention between the bowl and flush tank,slightly longer bolts 44 may be substituted for the conventional bolts,and the withdrawal duct 14 is provided with sleeves 45 extendingvertically between upper and lower wall members 26, 27. respectively ofthe rear portion 23 of the withdrawal duct, and sealed to registeringopenings in said wall members 26 and 27.

The invention provides for automatic control of the motor 39. A relay46, for connecting motor 39 to a source of 110 volt current, isenergized by a low voltage current supplied through a conductor-47,under the control of a switch 48 attached to the under side of seat 13at its forward end. Conductor 47 (Fig. 5) lies in a groove 49 in oneside of seat 13 and follows the'contour of the seat from front to rear,where it enters the hinge bracket 50 (attached to the seat at the oneside) and passes through a nipple fitting 51 into the tubular shaft 52(Fig. '6) on the endsof which bracketsSO are pivotally' mounted.Conductor passes through shaft 52 to the other end of hinge assembly 22,where it leaves through one of the mounting posts 53 (in which tube 51is mounted) projecting downwardly through the side flanges of bowlbracket 8, and proceeds to relay 46. The stretch of conductor 47 withinshaft 51 is of suflicient length to endure a 90 twist (enough toaccommodate lifting of seat 13) without being damaged thereby.

Gaskets 12 are sufliciently elastic to normally support seat 13 in aposition slightly elevated above its lower limit position determined byengagement of buttons 54 on the undersideof seat 13, against rim 7; andis sufficiently resilient to allow the seat to shift downwardly to thislower limit position when subjected to the weight of a person seated onseat 13. In the slightly elevated normal position of the seat, switch 48is open. When the seat is depressed to its lower limit position, theswitch, by engagement with rim 7, will be closed to start the operationof blower 37.

in the installation of my improved ventilating apparatus, theconventional anchor bolts are removed and the tank it) is lifted awayfrom the bowl. The gaskets 12 are suitably cemented to the bottom faceof the seat, with their rear ends fitted snugly against the respectivesides of the forward portion 20 of withdrawal duct 14, which is arrangedin place upon the rear portion 8 of the bowl after the removal of thetank. A suitable vent 16 having been formed in floor 17 the-scavengingduct 15 is inserted in place between the rear end portion of thewithdrawal duct and the floor, with the gaskets 40 and 43 cemented intoplace. The extension nipple 11 is then installed in the bottom of thetank 10 in place of the conventional nipple, and projecting below thebottom of the tank for insertion through the collar 30 of withdrawalduct 14, and connection to the upperend. of duct 9 in the-bowl. T heflush tank .10 is. then reinstalled on top of the rear portion 23 ofduct 14, and. anchor bolts 44 are inserted upwardly through the bottomof. thetank and secured by conventional nuts engaging the bottom of thetank. Upon tightening these nuts, the parts will be cinched togethertightly to establish compression against the gaskets 40 and 43 and thesealing connections between nipple 11 and the tank and rear bowl member8 respectively, and the apparatus is then ready for operation.

I claim:

1. In combination with. a toilet assembly comprising a bowl including arim defining a. mouth and a tank supporting bracket extending rearwardlyfrom said mouth and embodying a flushing duct;-a-seat; a pair oflaterally spaced hinges providing a hinged connection between said seatand said bowl at the junction between the rear extremity of said mouthand said bracket; a pair of gaskets of resilient compressible materialattached to the underside of said seat along the side portions thereofand closing the spaces between said rim and said. seatwhen the latter islowered, said gaskets being. laterally spaced at their rear ends todefine an outlet above the rear portion of said rimya shallowsubstantially flat withdrawal duct mounted on the upper face of saidbracket portion, said duct being of T-shape in plan. and including arelatively wide transversely extending rear portion disposed partiallyover the rear portion of said bracket and partially projectingrearwardlyfrom and overhanging the rear extremity thereof, and including arelatively narrow central portion extending forwardly between saidhinges and sealed to said outlet for withdrawing vapors therethroughfrom said bowl, said withdrawal duct having an outlet port in theunderside of said overhanging portion thereof; a scavenging duct having,an upper. end sealed to the said outlet port and embodying means: forwithdrawing vapors from said withdrawal duct therethrough; a flushingtank seated upon the upper side of said rear portion of the withdrawalduct; a collar extending vertically between. and joined to the upper andlower walls of said withdrawal duct in said relatively wide rear portionthereof immediately forwardly of said outlet port, said withdrawal ducthaving an opening extending vertically therethrough. and defined by saidcollar; a nipple extending through the bottom of said tank anddownwardly through said opening and sealed in said bracket incommunication with said flushing duct, the upper end of said nipplebeing provided with a valve seat for a flushing valve; a pair of sleevesextending vertically between and joined to the upper and lower walls ofsaid withdrawal duct in said relatively wide portion thereof on eitherside of said collar and providing a pair of bolt openings extendingvertically through said withdrawal duct; and anchor bolts extendingthrough said sleeves and anchoring the bottom of said tank to saidbracket with said withdrawal duct interposed between the brackets andthe tank, supported by the bracket and in turn supporting the tank.

2. The combination defined in claim 1, wherein said scavenging ductextends vertically between the bottom of said overhanging portion of thewithdrawal duct and a floor surface upon which said bowl is mounted, andfunctions as a supporting pillar between said floor sur- ReferencesCited in the file of this patent face and said overhanging portion ofthe withdrawal duct. 10 2,777, 37

UNITED STATES PATENTS McLanahan Feb. 27, 1923 Albrecht Sept. 21, 1926Bystrom Dec. 19, 1933 De La Croix Apr. 23, 1935 Carman Apr. 15, 1941Wheeler Feb. 29, 1944 McFadden Jan. 15, 1957

